After a season of headlines for his AFL exploits, Collingwood forward Jack Ginnivan has flexed his ability with the bat after scoring a match-winning century for his local cricket club.
Returning to his local area of Castlemaine, Ginnivan pulled on the cricket whites for Barkers Creek in the Castlemaine & District Cricket Association's A Reserve division over the weekend, opening the batting and even rolling the arm over with the ball.
While his five-over spell with the ball wouldn't turn too many heads, it was Ginnivan's ability with the bat atop the order for Barkers Creek that would see the 20-year-old impress yet again.
Coming to the crease with his side chasing a score of 207 set by Castlemaine United, Ginnivan would record an unbeaten 118-run innings from just 85 deliveries to help steer his side to victory.
His match-winning knock would consist of 11 fours and 7 sixes, with Barkers Creek claiming the win with 13 overs to spare from their allocated 40 overs.
Ginnivan has played 220 career cricket matches, recording a high score of 126 and best bowling figures of 6/3.
The feat follows a breakout season at AFL level with Collingwood last year, where Ginnivan emerged as one of the competition's most talented young forwards.
In his second season in the top tier since joining the Magpies through the Rookie Draft in 2020, Ginnivan would boot 40 goals from 23 games last year as Collingwood enjoyed a stellar first season under coach Craig McRae.
Ginnivan would play a large role in Collingwood's successes, evening earning the ANZAC Day Medal for his five-goal performance over Essendon at the MCG in Round 6.
While his talents on-field would be enough to agitate some opposition fans, Ginnivan found himself gaining widespread scrutiny from rival supports throughout the course of his sophomore season on a number of occasions.
The Pies goalsneak was infamously booed by Sydney fans after at the SCG in Round 22 after being pictured on the stadium screens following an injury that curtailed his performance.
The incident added to a year of mixed emotions for Ginnivan, who revealed some of the criticism had impacted his mental health.
“It's definitely taken a toll on my mental health and all that stuff,” he said in July.
"But I'm here, happy, smiling, when you're kicking goals and winning it's beautiful, so (I) can't complain."
Ginnivan and Collingwood have their sights on a Round 1 bout with Geelong to begin their 2023 season, with the Magpies' season opener scheduled for Friday, March 17 at the MCG.
